


my words will be your light.

by paleromantic



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Baking, Cuddling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Yuletide, but that has very little to do with plot, literally just fluff, set in ireland bc ireland is great okay, they're in love and it's good, they're witches, winter vibes, witch andreil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 16:56:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16937139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleromantic/pseuds/paleromantic
Summary: He found Neil on a small clearing, sitting cross-legged in the snow. His head was tilted back slightly, eyes closed, bare feet digging into the snow. When he heard Andrew approach, his eyes opened, turning around and then smiling."Oh, it's you.""Who else would it be?" Andrew stopped beside him, but didn't sit down. Hell would freeze over before he would willingly sit in the snow.





	my words will be your light.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to fluff central folks, there's zero angst in this fic and that's the way I like it
> 
> Enjoy! Thank you for reading, and feel free to drop a comment if you feel like it because I love reading y'all's comments.

The thing that woke Andrew up on the first day of Yule was the feeling of King jumping up onto the bed and curling up on his feet, her soft _mrrow_ drawing him out of sleep and into peaceful wakefulness. He took a moment to wriggle his toes, feeling her fur against his skin before he stretched his arms out and then sat up. Neil had left the window open, allowing a breeze of winter air to flow into their bedroom, and Andrew huffed as he disturbed King to go and close it. She gave a noise of complaint, and he reached out to pet her as a pseudo-apology. He could feel the goose bumps raising on his arms, and he shut the window, locking it and then rubbing his arm.

Neil was probably outside, since he wasn’t in bed, so Andrew set about finding warm clothes to go and join him. He found socks first, some abhorrent red ones with a Christmas tree design on the side, pulling them on. They were warm, and soft, and it wasn’t as if anyone other than Neil would be seeing him anyway, so he decided that he would keep them on. After that, he pulled one of Neil’s more festive jumpers out of their chest of drawers, pulling on an undershirt before tugging it on over his head. It was a deep charcoal grey, the least offensive of the clothes that Neil had brought with him to Ireland, and it had snowflake patterns on it. King hopped off the bed to wind around his ankles, and he picked her up absentmindedly as he sought out a pair of sweatpants.

“Do you want to come out in the snow with me?” Andrew scratched at King’s head gently, letting her nip at his finger before letting her jump out of his arms. “No, I didn’t think so.”

He stole Neil’s coat, pulling it on before lacing up his boots and then grabbing his phone. The smartphone was cold in his hand, so he slipped it into his pocket without checking for notifications. Nobody would be texting him anyway, since Kevin was off enjoying his holiday in Ireland with his father, and Neil was off doing who knows what. The plants that he had brought with him sat waiting for him in the kitchen, and he filled a glass with water before walking over to them. The succulents didn’t need much, just a couple of drops of water, but the rest of them took a decent amount of it. Andrew could feel them thriving in the muted sunlight of the Irish winter, and he reached out to run a thumb over the waxy leaves of his _monstera deliciosa_ , which they had hung high out of the reach of the cats, leaving the cat grass Andrew had grown down lower for them, as well as the catnip that they brought out for them sometimes. They had had to raise the temperature of the kitchen for the _monstera_ , but seeing as how she was growing more healthily because of it, they had both decided that they could live with a little more heat.

What Andrew couldn’t live with though, was the sting of the icy air on his face as he stepped out into the snow to go and look for his boyfriend. The things Andrew did for him.

He shoved his hands into his pockets to avoid the chill and started to walk. The snow crunched under his feet, betraying his movements, but he doubted that there was anything dangerous enough to worry about out in these woods. He could feel the thrum of the forest around him, though, and he inhaled deeply as he passed through them, braving the cold to run his hand along the trunks of the trees. He loved being in the woods, loved the settled contentment that it created in him, but it was hardly worth the trip out.

What was waiting for him _was_ worth the trip, though.

He found Neil on a small clearing, sitting cross-legged in the snow. His head was tilted back slightly, eyes closed, bare feet digging into the snow. When he heard Andrew approach, his eyes opened, turning around and then smiling.

"Oh, it's you."

"Who else would it be?" Andrew stopped beside him, but didn't sit down. Hell would freeze over before he would willingly sit in the snow.

Neil shrugged. "A fox stopped to visit me, I thought that maybe he came back."

Andrew hummed. "What are you doing out here?"

He took his box of cigarettes out of his pocket, thumping it on the palm of his hand before taking one out, lighting it up. Neil watched him for a moment, before smiling in the way that Andrew usually pushed him away for.

"Meditating. Would you like to join me?"

Andrew took a drag of his cigarette, letting the smoke blow out of his mouth slowly before he nodded. Avoiding touching the snow, he took his jacket off and placed it down beside the other man, grimacing.

Hell must have been freezing over after all.

He sat down and crossed his legs, careful not to get his sweatpants damp, and then rested his hands on his lap. Neil grinned at him, and then went back to sitting with his eyes closed. Andrew followed suit after a few seconds.

He could feel the grass under him, compressed as it was by the snowfall, and he reached under it for a deeper connection to the earth underneath. He could feel Neil doing the same, the air turning colder around him by a few degrees. He gritted his jaw, to stop his teeth from chattering. He had gotten used to the cold, being with Neil for the past year, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed the sensation.

They sat like that for a while, and Andrew begrudgingly had to admit that he did feel a little bit more settled after it. However, that settled contentment paled in comparison to the warmth that bloomed in his chest when Neil finally turned to him properly.

He leaned forward, catching Andrew's lips in a quick kiss, before smiling. "Good morning."

Andrew huffed, but put a hand up to stop Neil from moving away, kissing him again. "You are the worst."

Neil just laughed at him. "You could have gone back inside, you know."

Andrew ignored him, choosing instead to get to his feet, pulling Neil up after him. Neil's skin was ice cold, which Andrew supposed was what happened when someone went out into the snow in just a t-shirt, pyjama pants and bare feet. Neil didn't feel it, though, so it hardly mattered. Still, Andrew picked up his coat, shaking the snow off before wrapping it around his boyfriend.

"Let's go back inside."

Neil didn't complain, simply taking Andrew's hand in his own and nodding, walking back with him through the woods to their little cabin.

Nicky had chosen it for them, for its 'cosiness' factor, which hadn't really mattered to them at the time but that they were grateful for now nonetheless. It was a fairly small wooden cabin, but that was okay since they didn't exactly pack heavy, nor did they take up a lot of space. The fireplace was nice, and it heated the house, and the bathroom was old fashioned but comfortable with a large, enamelled cast iron bath. The cats loved it too, finding new places to explore most days or venturing out into the snow before they inevitably came back complaining about the cold. Andrew empathised with them greatly.

The door creaked loudly as they closed it behind them, but it did a decent job of keeping out the cold and Andrew could already feel the heat of the house starting to make his skin tingle. His fingers started to turn slightly red from the temperature change, and he clenched his fists to try and get rid of some of the pins and needles even though it only half worked. Neil quickly started to shed his wet clothes beside him, stripping down to his underwear and leaving them in a pile by the door. King and Sir both came running out to investigate the noise, Sir demanding to be picked up by Neil as soon as he saw him. Andrew rolled his eyes at them both, but eventually he caved too and took King into his arms, scratching her chin gently.

The brought them back to the kitchen, filling their dishes with food and leaving them to eat it happily as they retreated to the bedroom.

"How about a hot bath?" Neil glanced over at him, grabbing a soft towel and folding it over in his arms. “You’re shivering.”

It was true, not that Andrew would admit that.

He nodded and moved around Neil to get to the bathroom, letting the man kiss him on the cheek as he leaned over to grab one of his mesh bags, the ones that he usually made for Neil but that he wasn’t against using for himself too. The one that he chose was a lavender one, which was Neil’s favourite scent to add to his baths. Not that Andrew did it especially for him or anything, but if he had started growing a few more lavender plants than _usual_ , then that was nobody’s business other than his own.

He turned on the tap, waiting for the water to run hot before plugging the drain and tossing in the mesh bag, watching it slowly sink into the water. From there, he went to the sink and grabbed a box of matches from the side locker, going around and lighting the candles that they had left around the bathroom. Neil liked them, so Andrew supposed that he could live with it. The candles gave off a yellowish light, much easier on the eyes than the usual artificial lighting that they had in every room. By the time he had finished, the bath was almost half full and Neil had finished getting reading, bringing in the towels and clean clothes and placing them on the shelf that they had.

Then, he made his way over to Andrew and wrapped his arms slowly around the man’s waist, giving him plenty of time to pull away if he wanted.

He didn’t.

“You’re still fucking freezing, Josten.”

Neil chuckled, his lips pressed to Andrew’s hair. “It’s a good thing that there’s a hot bath waiting for us then, isn’t it?”

Andrew rolled his eyes but allowed it, as the room started to fill with steam. It was warm against his skin, slowly eliminating the remaining chill. The cracked the window open just a little and then turned the top off, checking the water with his hand. Neil let go of him to allow him to climb in, waiting for him to settle himself before climbing in after it and sitting between Andrew's legs, relaxing back against the man's chest. Andrew shifted slightly, stretching his legs out on either side of him, wrapping his arms loosely around his chest. Neil’s scars were rough under his fingertips, and he massage them gently with the hot water until they began to soften slightly. Neil made an appreciative noise, and then let his head fall back on Andrew’s shoulder.

“If you keep doing that, I might fall asleep.”

Andrew hummed, bringing a wet hand up to run through Neil’s hair. “And what a tragedy that would be, having you be quiet for once.”

“You like it when I talk.”

Andrew couldn’t argue with that.

Neil smiled, his skin finally back to a normal temperature when he took Andrew’s hands in his own, turning them over and tracing his fingers slowly. It was oddly soothing, and Andrew felt the rest of the tension in his body wash away. He closed his eyes, resting his head against the side of the bath and keeping the arm that Neil didn’t have a grip on wrapped around the man’s waist. On a worse day, Andrew probably wouldn’t have been able to handle this amount of physical contact, but as it was, he could admit that he kind of liked it.

“So, what are our plans while we’re here?” Neil kissed the palm of Andrew’s hand, and then held it to his chest. “We have two weeks to kill.”

Andrew hummed, not opening his eyes. “As little as possible.”

Neil laughed, quietly echoing against the wall. “Don’t you want to celebrate our first Yule together properly?”

“There will be other years.”

Andrew couldn’t see him, but he could almost feel Neil turning red. It wasn’t often that Andrew acknowledged their committed relationship, but when he did it invariably got the same result. He felt Neil kiss his knuckles this time, and he huffed out a short breath.

“I could ask Renee for a list of things that people usually do during the holidays.”

Neil’s lips curved into a smile against Andrew’s skin, and he tucked his leg up under him. “Yeah?”

Andrew nodded, and them reached out to flick Neil’s neck. “Shut up, I’m trying to relax.”

Neil’s grin just grew wider. “You love me.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Josten.”

Neil laughed, moving enough to turn around, facing him. Andrew finally cracked his eyes open, before rolling them. “Go away.”

“Yes or no?” Neil leaned forward, smiling easily and doing funny things to Andrew’s heart.

Andrew caved immediately, as per usual. “Yes.”

Neil rocked forward and kissed him quickly, chaste. “I love you.”

Andrew huffed, and then pulling Neil in to kiss him properly, curling a hand around his hips. Neil hummed happily and then pulled back, his hair starting to curl from the damp in the air and the wetness at the edges. He looked like some sort of model, a modern day Greek god. It pissed Andrew the hell off, but more importantly, it made his heart beat faster than usual.

“I love you too.”

Neil beamed at him, and then rested his head on Andrew’s chest, his ear lying directly over his heart. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, looking as content and relaxed as the cats did when they laid around in the sun back at home.

Andrew understood exactly how he felt.

****

“You want to bake.”

Andrew frowned and then took another sip of his hot chocolate. It burned his tongue slightly, but that was overshadowed by annoyance at the fact that Neil had made it perfectly _again_ , just the way Andrew liked it. He was getting alarmingly good at matching all of Andrews needs perfectly, although Andrew supposed that it had been like that since the beginning. He betrayed exactly none of his thought process on his face though, and set down his mug with a slight clatter. “You can’t bake.”

Neil squawked, indignant. “I can bake!”

“Sure, burnt things.” Andrew shook his head and then reached for his phone. “What are you planning on making?”

“I don’t know… something festive, maybe? Since we’re celebrating this year.”

Andrew nodded, and then opened up his messaging app, clicking on his most recent conversation and starting to type. “I’d say make a Yule log, but then you’d be stealing my thunder.”

Neil chuckled. “I know, I know. You promised me a Yule Log, you’ll get me a Yule Log, plant boy.”

Andrew shot him the middle finger and turned his attention back to his phone.

_Festive baking recipes? Josten is trying to bake._

It took under five minutes for Renee to respond, and Andrew sent her a quick thanks before turning the phone towards Neil and pushing it to him. “There. Take your pick.”

Neil grinned. “Renee is a lifesaver. Do you mind doing a grocery run, then?”

“What, are you not able to walk or something?” Andrew put up an admirable fight, but there was only one way it could end, really, and that was with him grabbing his keys and heading to the car. Neil had written him a list of things to buy, and Andrew felt that it looked _extremely_ promising; it was completely made up of alcohol and chocolate, apart from the usual baking things like eggs and flour. Renee had made a good call, it seemed. He resolved to call her that week, it had been a while since they had talked properly after all. Renee’s life as a good and kind person was a full time job.

The nearest store was pretty quiet when Andrew got there, so it barely took him any time at all to find everything he needed. The chocolate was probably the easiest to find, since the holiday season was a huge time for sales on it. The flour, eggs and milk were fairly easy too, once he got used to the layout of the store and the signs that were hanging from the ceiling. He had had to go onto his tip toes to reach the eggs, but there was hardly anyone to see it. He would deny it if anyone asked. The cashier smiled warmly at him as he put the basket up, taking the products out and putting them on the belt. She was a pretty woman, probably in her late twenties. Her hair was a deep burgundy.

“What are you making?”

Andrew usually would have ignored a question like that, but as it was, he just shrugged easily and started to put his things into a bag. “My boyfriend thinks that he can bake. It’s easier to let him run his course.”

She giggled and then shook her head. “He’s not the next cake boss then, no?”

Andrew, despite himself, snorted, and she laughed with him. “God, no.”

It had started to rain by the time he got out of the store, so he hurried to the car and put the bag of groceries onto the passenger seat, fastening the seatbelt around it to stop it from sliding off the seat as he drove. He drove back in mostly silence, except for the noise of the rain hitting against the windshield of the car. It was pretty soothing, even if Andrew was looking forward to getting home and curling up by the fire again. That had absolutely nothing to do with a certain person waiting for him there, though. Andrew texted him to let him know that he was almost there.

He had to run for the door as soon as he got home to avoid most of the nearly torrential downpour, but Neil was waiting for him inside with a dry fleece, and some fresh hot chocolate. Andrew took them gratefully, even if he didn’t say it, and he stripped himself of his damp clothes to change. While he did, Neil took the groceries out of the bag and laid them on the counter, humming and adding some things that they had already had. Then, annoyingly, he shooed Andrew from the room with a hand on his back and a kiss pressed to his forehead.

“It’s a surprise, Drew. I’ll call you in when it’s done?”

Andrew huffed and sat on the couch instead, too warm and comfortable to argue too much with him. He had added cinnamon to his hot chocolate this time, and the spice sat warmly on his tongue, combining with the sweetness of the chocolate with every sip. Neil had outdone himself, it seemed. He could hear the man talking in the kitchen, probably on the phone to one of their friends, asking for help with his little project.

Andrew wondered when he had started to refer to them as his friends too.

King jumped up onto the couch beside him, and he lifted his arm to allow her to slink under it and settle herself on his lap. It was her favourite place to be, and Andrew had moved well beyond pretending that he didn’t enjoy it. He scratched at her head gently, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards as she started to purr, stretching out.

The Areca palm that Andrew had sat beside the couch was doing wonderfully, especially now that they were surrounded by so much plant and life energy for Andrew to tap into. The edges were chewed slightly by the cats, but that was alright. Andrew had made sure that all of the plants in their reach were safe for them, anyways.

Sir joined them after a while, probably sent away by Neil too. Andrew offered his condolences, in the form of tummy rubs- Sir loved those. The air changed slightly as Neil came in, the temperature lowering slightly, but Andrew was used to that. He had learned to love the chill, as well as learning to love some other things. That was a rabbit hole that Andrew didn’t want to fall into, though. He wasn’t sure he’d make it out alive.

Neil cleared the cats away, and they left with only mild complaining- which was a feat in itself. Then, he settled on Andrew’s lap, humming at the warmth. Andrew slid a hand up along his back, ignoring the cold in favour of warming his boyfriend up. Neil made an appreciative noise, and then stole some of his hot chocolate. He made a face at the sweetness, but then stope another sip anyway. Andrew rolled his eyes, and then pulled him down into a kiss. It tasted like Christmas, but that was no explanation for what it did to his heart. What it was _still_ doing to his heart, over a year later.

“It’s in the oven.” He brushed his lips over Andrew’s cheekbone, and Andrew rolled his eyes at him.

“Well that’s ominous.”

Neil laughed, tilting his head back and then smiling at him. Andrew couldn’t tear his eyes away. Instead, he pulled Neil down into another kiss, keeping him close with a hand tangled into his hair. When they broke apart, Neil was panting slightly.

“What was that for? You don’t even know if it’s edible, yet.”

Andrew shook his head, pressing more kisses along Neil’s scars, down along his jawline. “I love you.”

He felt Neil’s heart rate change, speeding up as a blush darkened his cheeks. “I love you too, Andrew.”

They stayed there for another fifteen minutes, trading kisses and staying so close together that Andrew could acutely feel his absence when Neil pulled away to take whatever he was making out of the oven. He wasn’t gone for long, though, since just ten minutes after that he called Andrew inside.

The kitchen wasn’t the mess that Andrew feared it would be, and the place smelled of chocolate, and alcohol. Andrew was a big fan of it, although he was a bigger fan of how Neil looked in the apron that he was wearing.

He crossed the kitchen to kiss him, and Neil grinned against his lips. “You like it?”

Andrew rolled his eyes, and then turned to the counter to see the final product.

Neil pressed himself against Andrew’s back, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “I wanted to make trifle… It’s what my mom made at Christmas when I was younger. But Renee helped me to decide on making a different version of it for you, with chocolate instead of fruit. I think it turned out well?”

It looked good, that was for sure. It was in a glass, and from what Andrew could see the bottom of the glass was filled with sponge, that was topped with some caramel or something, and then whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Neil had really tried for this one, and it showed.

“Go on then, before it melts.”

Andrew picked up a spoon and then the glass, and as Neil had implied, the glass was still warm. He took a spoon of it, digging right into the sponge, before putting it in his mouth. The taste was a surprise, although Andrew supposed that it shouldn’t have been. The sponge seemed to have been soaked in alcohol, and the caramel was salted. It tasted almost unfairly good. Andrew wondered if Neil had had time to drive to the store and buy it, although he supposed that Neil was always unfairly good at things when it came to Andrew.

Neil stood nearby, looking nervous. “It’s okay, isn’t it? I had to remake the brownies, the mixture was awful the first time.”

Andrew hummed, and then ate another spoonful. And then another. “It’s… not awful.”

Neil huffed, and then grinned. “You can’t just be nice to me, can you?”

“It’s not my brand, babe.”

Andrew ate the rest of it quickly, and then ate the one that Neil had made for himself, even though he knew that it was really for Andrew. The alcohol had given him a nice buzz, and when he was finished, he pulled Neil close again.

“They were delicious, Josten.” Neil reddened a little under the praise, and he bit his lip until Andrew kissed him again.

“They were? I really wanted them to turn out okay.”

Andrew nodded, and then wrapped an arm around Neil’s waist. “Better than okay.”

Neil grinned, and kissed him again. “I love you.”

Andrew nipped at his lip before pulling back. “I love you too. Now, how about we finish cleaning the kitchen?”

Neil nodded and grabbed a rag. “We can watch tv then? I recorded some of that show you like, figured you’d want to have it for whenever you felt like watching it.”

Andrew hummed, and then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

He stole the rag from Neil’s hands, and then turned to wipe the counter clean, while Neil focused on the dishes. They worked well together, and soon enough the kitchen was spotless again. Neil folded the apron and put it back into the drawer, and then crackled his knuckles. “Race you to the couch?”

“Alright Josten, but you’ll lose.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Minyard.” Neil’s smile was teasing, and Andrew paused for a moment to stare at it. Unfortunately, it was a moment that Neil used to make it to the couch first.

“What was that, about me losing? I didn’t quite hear you.” He stretched out and then moved over for Andrew to climb on beside him, only laughing when Andrew threatened to push him off. “What’s my prize?”

Andrew lay back, letting an arm wrap around Neil’s torso again. “A quick death.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm.”

Neil grazed a kiss along Andrew’s jaw. “Thanks, dear.”

Andrew ignored the blush that rose on his cheeks. “No problem, _babe_.”

It was shaping up to be a good Yule, all things considered. Andrew couldn’t wait to see what else it had in store for them.


End file.
